Engine versions
Classic DROD was first released over twenty years ago. Because it's been updated with each major release, and each of its updates has strived to be backwards-compatible, there's been some confusion over what engine brought what features. This page details the various differences in the Classic DROD engine versions. Webfoot DROD (1.0) Webfoot DROD was the first engine released to the public. Elements Here are the elements included in Webfoot DROD: * Walls * Breakable walls * Stairs * Pits * Trapdoors * Open and closed yellow doors * Room clear gates * Trapdoor gates * Level clear gates * Force arrows * Orbs * Mimic and invisibility potions * Scrolls * Obstacles (2x2 size only) * Tar Monsters Here's the list of monsters included in Webfoot DROD: * Roach * Roach queen * Evil eye * Wraithwing * Spider * Goblin * Brain * Tar mother * Tar baby * Serpent * Neather * Mimics (couldn't be pre-placed in a room) Styles Webfoot DROD had the following 9 room styles, which would later be reused in Caravel DROD and DROD 1.0: * Catacombs * Cavern * Cliffs * Ice * Lava * Palace * Sanctum * Slime * Voids Caravel DROD (1.5) Caravel DROD was the first open source version of the engine, as the contract with Webfoot had expired. This version added checkpoints and the restore screen. It also features a new title screen, new music, and various new graphics. Architects' Edition DROD 1.6 DROD 1.6, also known as DROD: Architects' Edition or DROD AE, was the first version of the game to feature the level editor. This version also introduced multiple player profiles. Like version 1.5, DROD 1.6 is entirely free and open source. DROD 2.0 DROD 2.0 was the first engine version to be used in a commercial release. The demo version came prepackaged with the Journey to Rooted Hold Demo level set and almost every feature including the level editor. The purchased version came with the entire level set and unlocked all the graphics and music. DROD 2.0 was released on April 1st, 2005. Graphics DROD 2.0 runs at 1024x768 resolution and features entirely new graphics. Tiles are now 22x22 pixels, up from previous versions' 14x14. * Spiders and tar babies no longer have one graphic, but rather show which direction they face. Also, since palace style was removed, spiders are now only visible when they move or when they're within two tiles of the player. * There are now six different floor textures to choose from: the classic "checkerboard" style as well as five more styles for environmental effect. Also, architects may insert their own images to be used as floors. * Walls now cast proper shadows. * Evil eyes now have different sprites for when they're active. Elements DROD 2.0 added the following new elements: * Hard walls * Secret walls * Master walls * Tarstuff gates * Stairs up * Tunnels * Bombs * Fuses * Decoy potions * Ortho squares * Mud * Obstacles of different sizes Monsters * Rock golems * Wubbas * Seep * Mud mothers * Mud babies * Rattlesnakes * Guards * Halph * Slayer * Decoy Scripting DROD 2.0 was the first engine to include scripting capabilities. Tools include commands for movement, speech, and basic Boolean logic. Styles DROD 2.0 features the following 3 styles: * Foundation (default) * Deep Spaces * Iceworks The demo version of the game features the graphics and music for the Foundation style only. Other * Clicking orbs will see what doors they affect, and how. * Clicking an evil eye will show its line of sight. * Players can undo their last turn, or their death. * Checkpoints, force arrows, and obstacles have been moved to their own layer and can now be placed anywhere in the room. * It is now possible to mark certain rooms as secret. They won't be required to open the blue door, but clearing them is necessary to drop the master wall. * Architects can mark their holds as editable by "You and Masters", so that only players that solve every secret room can edit your hold. CaravelNet - DROD 3.0 DROD 3.0 came prepackaged with the The City Beneath level set, but the engine features a variety of improvements that apply to any content played in it. Like its predecessor, DROD 3.0 has a free demo version that includes every feature, save for five of the six room styles, and much of the level set itself. The purchased version features the entire level set as well as all graphics and music. DROD 3.0 was released on April 1st, 2007. Graphics * The engine features various lighting effects: ** Rooms can be made darker ** Light posts will cast ray-traced light on their surroundings * There are also now various "Weather" effects, such as: ** Cloud reflections in water and various cloud graphics to choose from. ** Lightning strikes with accompanying thunder sounds. ** Clouds overhead. ** Cloud shadows. ** Different light level for rooms (some lighting effects will show up better in a darker room). ** Fog height can be used to add a layer of fog inside the pits or overhead the entire room. ** Falling snow. * In addition to custom images for floors, architects can insert custom images for pits and walls. * Orthogonal square graphics were updated to be easier to see. Elements DROD 3.0 added the following new elements: * Open room clear gates * Open trapdoor gates * Open tarstuff gates * Open level clear gates * Water * Trapdoors over water * Platforms over pits and water * Three kinds of pressure plates * Oremites * Hot tiles * Bridges * Cracked and broken orbs * Clone and speed potions * Briar * More different obstacles * Mirrors * Tokens * Relay stations * Light poles * Gel Monsters DROD 3.0 engine added the following new monsters: * Adder * Gel mother * Gel baby * Water skipper * Water skipper nest * Aumtlich * Fegundo * Clone * Stalwart * Citizen / builder * Rock giant Scripting DROD 3.0 improved upon the previous version's scripting engine with many new commands. Most importantly, architects could define and use custom variables. Styles DROD 3.0 added three new styles: * Aboveground * City (default) * Fortress DROD 3.0 also allowed architects to design and implement custom styles for other players to enjoy. Other * Clicking on an orthosquare will highlight every orthosquare in the room. * Mimics and decoys can now be pre-placed in the editor. * Right-clicking a tile reveals more information: ** Every element on this tile ** Monster movement order ** The length of snakes CaravelNet Players with a CaravelNet membership and an active Internet connection can chat with other players from inside the game. DROD 4.0 DROD 4.0 came prepackaged with the Gunthro and the Epic Blunder level set, but the engine features a variety of improvements that apply to any content played in it. Like with previous versions, the demo version comes with all features except for the full level set, and except for eight of the nine room styles. DROD 4.0 was released on April 1st, 2012. Gameplay * Long chains of sequential kills (>= 10) are now displayed as flashing "Combo" messages. Graphics * New weather effect: rain. * Water can now have its own custom overlay texture. Previously it was overlaid with the pit texture. Shallow water can also have an optional overlay texture. If it's not present it will by default use the dirt floor texture. * The flashing message (Level exit, Secret room, etc.) animation is now smoother. Elements * Shallow water * Squad horn * Soldier horn * Stepping stone (not placeable in the editor) Monsters * Soldier Scripting DROD 4.0 added a variety of new commands to the scripting engine. Its most important innovations included default character scripts and predefined variables. New styles * Beach * Forest (default) * Swamp The Forest, City, and Aboveground styles can all be used in the demo version. Other * It is now possible to adjust tarstuff transparency in the player settings screen. CaravelNet DROD 4.0 did not add any features to CaravelNet. DROD 5.0 DROD 5.0 came prepackaged with the The Second Sky level set, but the engine features a variety of improvements that apply to any content played in it. Like with previous versions, the demo version comes with all features except for the full level set, and except for eleven of the twelve room styles. DROD 5.0 was released on June 21st, 2014. It is currently the most recent release of the franchise. Gameplay * The player can undo any number of turns Graphics * It is now possible to add custom overhead images to rooms. * Image overlay scripting command allows you to display and animate images in various ways. It is now possible to do animation that doesn't depend on player movement. This command has been used extensively in the official hold included in the release, The Second Sky. * One use pressure plates now have graphics for their depressed but not activated state. * Every animated character now has 3 instead of 2 frames of animation, making the animation appear smoother. * Graphics for the tokens have been updated. * Some graphics for styles have been updated (see the styles section below for more information) * The text on the title screen is now anti-aliased. * There are title screens included for all the previous engine versions starting from 2.0 which show up when you select a hold made in that version. Elements DROD 5.0 adds the following new elements: * Thin ice over deep and shallow water * Hold complete wall * Fluff vent * Floor spikes * Firetraps * Inactive force arrows * Weapon tokens * Temporal split token * Seeding beacon * Powder keg * Fluff Monsters DROD 5.0 adds the following new monsters: * Puff * Engineer * Gentryii * Construct In addition to those, the official hold included in the release features some custom new monsters made with scripted characters. Those monsters are available for download to everyone who has bought the game. Styles DROD 5.0 adds the following new styles: * Badlands * Caldera * Greenhouse In addition, the 3 styles included in DROD 4.0 (Beach, Forest and Swamp) have been redrawn completely from scratch. Also, almost all the different floor textures present in the official styles have been redrawn from scratch. Some styles also had some of their graphics redrawn: * Aboveground, Deep Spaces and Fortress have new graphics for the sides of the pits. * Aboveground and Fortress have new pit textures. * Deep Spaces' pit texture has been replaced with pure black color. * Foundation has new inner wall texture. Scripting Other * You can no longer highlight ortho squares by clicking on them. * You can now click doors, force arrows and firetraps to see which orbs and pressure plates affect them. * There is a puzzle view mode, activated by pressing F3 key. Once activated, it does the following: ** Displays a grid over the screen. ** Makes tarstuff transparent. ** Shows evil eyes' lines of sight. ** Makes spiders visible. * Stepping stones are now placeable in the editor. * Briar growth (immature briar) is now placeable in the editor. * You can now see exactly which tiles will be hit by bomb explosions. CaravelNet DROD 5.0 did not add any features to CaravelNet.